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After Paris Suburb Unrest, Macron Deplores ‘Inexcusable’ Police Killing of Teenager

Police in riot gear stand next to a fire burning in the street after a demonstration in Nanterre, west of Paris, on June 27, 2023, after French police killed a teenager who refused to stop for a traffic check in the city. (AFP)
Police in riot gear stand next to a fire burning in the street after a demonstration in Nanterre, west of Paris, on June 27, 2023, after French police killed a teenager who refused to stop for a traffic check in the city. (AFP)
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After Paris Suburb Unrest, Macron Deplores ‘Inexcusable’ Police Killing of Teenager

Police in riot gear stand next to a fire burning in the street after a demonstration in Nanterre, west of Paris, on June 27, 2023, after French police killed a teenager who refused to stop for a traffic check in the city. (AFP)
Police in riot gear stand next to a fire burning in the street after a demonstration in Nanterre, west of Paris, on June 27, 2023, after French police killed a teenager who refused to stop for a traffic check in the city. (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday called the shooting dead of a 17-year-old by police during a traffic stop near Paris "inexcusable" in rare criticism of law-enforcement hours after the incident triggered unrest.

A police officer is being investigated for voluntary homicide for shooting the youth, who was of North African origin. Prosecutors say he failed to comply with an order to stop his car early on Monday.

The interior ministry called for calm after at least 31 were arrested in overnight clashes, mainly in the Paris suburb of Nanterre where the victim lived, with youths burning cars and shooting fireworks at police, who sprayed people with tear gas.

"We have an adolescent that was killed, it is unexplainable and inexcusable," Macron told reporters in Marseille.

"Nothing justifies the death of a young man," he said, before calling for the judiciary to do its work.

Rights groups allege systemic racism inside law-enforcement agencies in France, a charge Macron has previously denied.

A video shared on social media, verified by Reuters, shows two police officers beside the car, a Mercedes AMG, with one shooting at the driver as the car pulled away. He subsequently died from his wounds, the local prosecutor said.

"You have a video that is very clear: a police officer killed a young man of 17 years. We can see that the shooting is not within the rules," said Yassine Bouzrou, a lawyer for the family.

Lawmakers held a minute's silence in the National Assembly, where Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the shooting "seems clearly not to comply with the rules."

The family has filed a legal complaint against the officers for homicide, complicity in homicide and false testimony, the lawyer said.

In a video shared on TikTok, a woman identified as the victim's mother called for a memorial march in Nanterre on Thursday. "Everyone come, we will lead a revolt for my son," she said.

Unusually frank

Tuesday's killing was the third fatal shooting during traffic stops in France so far in 2023 down from a record 13 last year, a spokesperson for the national police said.

There were three such killings in 2021 and two in 2020, according to a Reuters tally, which shows the majority of victims since 2017 were Black or of Arab origin.

France's human rights ombudsman has opened an inquiry into the death, the sixth such inquiry into similar incidents in 2022 and 2023.

Macron's remarks were unusually frank in a country where senior politicians are often reticent to criticize police given voters' security concerns.

He has faced criticism from rivals who accuse him of being soft on drug dealers and petty criminals and has implemented policies aimed at curbing urban crime, including greater authority for police to issue fines.

In the wake of the overnight unrest, the interior ministry said 2,000 police have been mobilized in the Paris region.

The streets of Nanterre were calm on Wednesday morning and Fatima, a resident, said she hoped there would be no more violence.

"To revolt like we did yesterday won't change things, we need to discuss and talk," she said.

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North Korea Wants to Restart Nuclear Talks if Trump Wins, Says Ex-diplomat

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose at a military demarcation line at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019. KCNA via REUTERS/File Photo
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose at a military demarcation line at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019. KCNA via REUTERS/File Photo
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North Korea Wants to Restart Nuclear Talks if Trump Wins, Says Ex-diplomat

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose at a military demarcation line at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019. KCNA via REUTERS/File Photo
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose at a military demarcation line at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019. KCNA via REUTERS/File Photo

North Korea wants to reopen nuclear talks with the United States if Donald Trump is re-elected as president and is working to devise a new negotiating strategy, a senior North Korean diplomat who recently defected to South Korea told Reuters.
The escape of Ri Il Gyu from Cuba made headlines globally last month. He was the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to defect to the South since 2016.
In his first interview with international media, Ri said North Korea has set Russia, the US and Japan as its top foreign policy priorities for this year and beyond.
While bolstering relations with Russia, Pyongyang was keen to reopen nuclear negotiations if Trump - who engaged in both fiery brinkmanship and unprecedented diplomacy with North Korea during his previous term - won re-election in November, Ri said.
Pyongyang's diplomats were mapping out a strategy for that scenario, with the goal of lifting of sanctions on its weapons programs, removing its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and eliciting economic aid, said Ri.
His comments signal a potential about-face from the North's current stance after recent statements ditching the possibility of dialogue with the US and warning of armed confrontation.
A summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump in Vietnam in 2019 collapsed over sanctions, for which Ri partly blamed Kim's decision to entrust "inexperienced, clueless" military commanders with nuclear diplomacy.
"Kim Jong Un doesn't know much about international relations and diplomacy, or how to make strategic judgment," he said.
"This time, the foreign ministry would definitely gain power and take charge, and it won't be so easy for Trump to tie North Korea's hands and feet again for four years without giving anything."
RUSSIAN TIES, JAPAN AID
By forging closer ties with Russia, North Korea received help with its missile technology and economy. But a bigger benefit could be to block additional sanctions and undercut existing ones, Ri said, adding it would raise Pyongyang's bargaining power against Washington.
"The Russians got their own hands dirty by engaging in illicit transactions and, thanks to that, North Korea no longer needs to rely on the US to lift sanctions, which essentially means they stripped the US of one key bargaining chip," he said.
In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he wants to meet Kim, but the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s has long been a stumbling block.
According to Ri, Kim would seek to hold a summit with Japan, aiming to get economic assistance in return for concessions on the abductee issue.
Tokyo believes 17 of its citizens were abducted, five of whom returned to Japan in 2002. Pyongyang sees the issue as settled, having admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese nationals and saying those unaccounted for had either died or their whereabouts were unknown.
Ri said Kim would be willing to change that position, established under his father Kim Jong Il, in order to obtain economic support.
"They're saying that the issue was resolved, but that's just to boost negotiating power until he makes concessions at a summit," he said.
RESENTMENT AND DEFECTION
Having studied at a French school in Algeria and lived in Cuba alongside his late father, who was a state media reporter, Ri says he had imagined a life in South Korea since his childhood, but never acted to flee until he was bullied by a diplomatic colleague for refusing his demand for bribes.
Then the defining moment came when Pyongyang instantly refused his request to get medical treatment in Mexico, at his own expense, for a ruptured disc in his neck.
"That exploded all the resentment I had been harboring towards the regime," he said.
The COVID-19 lockdown deepened hardships at home and for those stationed overseas, with most telephone lines to Pyongyang cut to prevent any information from spreading in the outside world, Ri said.
Financial troubles have also forced North Korea to shut down a dozen of its 54 diplomatic missions.
"When they began reopening and summoning those working abroad in early 2023, they asked to bring everything from used toothbrushes to spoons back home, saying there's nothing there," he said.
Ri had also witnessed - and in his job tried to impede - the launch of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba, a Cold War-era ally of North Korea.
"I had done everything to block that from happening, but establishing relations with Cuba was the best thing South Korea had done since last year," he said. "It was a model example of how the tides of history have turned, and where a normal civilization of the international community is headed."